126 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of 

 singing of the birds has come." Isaiah, poet, as well as prophet of 

 Israel, prophesying the flourishing of our Savior's Kingdom, says: 

 " The wilderness and the solitary places shall be glad, and the desert 

 shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." 



All admire the beautiful in nature. The love of flowers is uni- 

 versal. Their language and symbolism were known in most ancient 

 times. The Greeks and Romans crowned their victors with gar- 

 lands, and decorated their temple? with wreaths of flowers. Classical 

 Mythology is adorned with many floral myths and legends, symboliz- 

 ing the forces and processes of nature. The sleep-bringing pojipy 

 soothed the sorrows of Ceres, goddess of grains and fruits, in her 

 search for her daughter, Proserpine, whom Pluto, god of darkness, 

 had violently carried to Hades. The tears of Ceres prevailed, so 

 that she was permitted to return each year from the lower regions, 

 and spend the spring and summer on the earth. This myth symbol- 

 izes the process of vegetation. Proserpine was the flower, the 

 plant doomed to pass the winter below ground. From the blood of 

 Adonis, and the tears of Venus, sprang the anemone, fairest of 

 woodland flowers. Narcissus, a beautiful youth, for whom the 

 nymph Echo died of grief, fell in love with his own image in the 

 water. Pining away under the influeiice of this passion, he was 

 changed into the flower bearing his name — signifying egotism. Ju- 

 piter, god of the heavens and air, caused the violet to spring up in 

 the grass where lo, transformed into a heifer, touched her lips. lo 

 represented the moon, and her wanderings its phases. Argus, com- 

 mission by Juno to watch lo, represented the stars and mercury, the 

 argus sla3^er, the clouds and mists. So, the violet shrinking from 

 the sun's rays, and hiding among the grass-blades, or nestling in soft 

 mossy beds, was an emblem of modesty. To commemorate the 

 grace and beauty of his favorite hyacinths, Apollo, god of sunlight, 

 caused to spring from his blood the sweet flushing hyacinth, signify- 

 ing sorrow. The nymph Daphne, escaping the pursuit of Apollo, was 

 transformed into a laurel tree. The bright god saluted the green 

 leaves with kisses, and crowned with them his sunny brows, hence 

 the laurel was a symbol of glory. The leaves were used to wreath 

 " the victor's garlans and the poet's crown." The houris, the graces 

 and the nymphs, attended the Olympian deities, adorned with flowers 

 and bringing blessings to man. 



In the Elysian fields, the abodes of the blessed, bloomed the 

 peerless asphodel and the immortal amaranth, and the air wis redo- 

 lent with the fragrance of laurel groves. Linus, shepherd of song, 

 adorned his locks with flowers. Comas, god of pleasure, was repre- 

 sented as a comely youth, crowned with roses whose leaves glistened 

 with dew drops. Flora, goddess of spring time and flowers, was 

 worshipped in Rome from the earliest times. For her a temple was 

 founded and festivals were annually celebrated. The hawthoim was 



